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GunRunner

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Looks for Range

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  1. This may be old news, but I haven't been in this forum for a while, remembered Brian mentioning it as a favorite movie, and thought I'd pass it along. WallyWerld has Ghost Dog in the $5.50 DVD rack at my local store. So if anyone wants to get it for a good deal you might have a dig at your local WW. Reload and resume firing. mike
  2. Had a few good laughs reading this thread. When i decide to shoot a competition i think i'll shoot the round, then after my last shot yell... "Stop or i'll shoot!" mike
  3. GunRunner

    "Zen in Shooting"

    Kyudo: The Essence and Practice of Japanese Archery and Illuminated Spirit: Conversations with a Kyudo Master. http://www.kyudo.com/yudo-k.html I don't have a clue what Zen art would be. I think hes wanting some sort of validation for his use of Zen in shooting in his essays. mike (Edited by GunRunner at 7:33 pm on Dec. 15, 2001)
  4. GunRunner

    The Value

    >I would think the true Zen response would be to say, "Who cares if there's a squirrel?" and then go on to more worthwhile endeavors.< But is the true Zen responce always the best responce? We no longer live in the simple society that fathered Zen. Another problem is most people wouldn't "go on to more worthwhile endeavors". And thinking things through as a learning experience is in its self a worthwhile endeavour. To put this into perspective, they were out camping and possibly weren't involved worthwhile endeavours and at that time had none. Most people camp now a days for relaxation, not as a worthwhile endeavour in its self, other than the diversion from everyday complexity. The problem with anecdotes is that they leave too much to be assumed and only focus on one point. Life isn't so simple. And the true Zen responce can be taken to the extremes. Isn't it with a proper balance when we can acheve our best? I'm looking at this from the perspective of the newly inititated and Duane and Brian (and the Zen Master) are looking at it from the perspective of well on your journey. Any journey takes you from point A to point Z, and every journey has detours, little journeys along the way. Its what you learn from your journeys that lets you progress... How can you learn if you don't think about life and its problems? ~~~~~ Rocks: a meaning for life. A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, rocks about 2 inches in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The students laughed. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. "Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognise that this jar is your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal. "Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand." But then... A student then took the jar which the other students and the professor agreed was full, and proceeded to pour in a can of beer. Of course the beer filled the remaining spaces within the jar making the jar truly full. Which proves: that no matter how full your life is, there is always room for a beer. ~~~~~ To me one moral of this story is once you fix your mind with Answers, you stop questioning, searching... IOW even the student can teach the professor, But both have to be able to think to do so. Pragmatism has its place but it needs to be balanced with other outlooks. The tricky part is not getting trapped by your view and in knowing when to apply and to what degree to apply pragmatism. Of course as this applies to actions, especially fast paced actions, your view must not be cluttered by thinking about every little detail or you'll grind to a halt. But then thats where training comes in. When pragmatism is applied to trained actions it will cut through the clutter of thought allowing you to act as you were trained. The folded paper is a good tool to help organize our thoughts. But as you probably realize, what is important is what ever we make important. If learning new perspectives, like with the squirrel and tree ancedote isn't important to you then its easy to dismiss it. As others dismiss competative shooting. The bottom line is you must think in order to be pragmatic, and this must be kept clear to us newly initatied or we can fall into the trap of not thinking at all. I think we are agreeing on this topic, its just that we are looking at it from different perspectives. I'm exposed to so many people every day who seem to search for an excuse not to think that i tend to be a bit defensive about that. I keep trying to get people to think, if only for a short while. mike
  5. GunRunner

    "Zen in Shooting"

    Well i've been debating wheather to comment upon this or not since i've read neither all of Dreyer's essays or Brians book and haven't studied Zen... But i will post Dreyer's reply to my email. He seems to be trying to justify his essays with traditional Zen art, while admitting he doesn't agree with all of its practices. As you can imagine hes having problems resolving this... ~~~~~ Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2001 00:38:36 -0500 From: "John A. Dreyer" <Dreyer_infonet@compuserve.com> Subject: re: Have you ever read... Sender: "John A. Dreyer" <Dreyer_infonet@compuserve.com> To: Mike Dumas <umrk@bellsouth.net> Message text written by Mike Dumas >Have you ever read Practical Shooting, Beyond Fundamentals by Brian Enos 1990 Its been called "Zen and the Art of Pistol Shooting"< Hi Mike, No I have not. However, while it is probably an INCREDIBLE book (based on its title "Beyond Fundamentals&quot, Enos probably did not study Zen in detail to write his book. Why do I say that? I am extremely concerned about the credibility of my articles claiming that there is "Zen" in shooting. After many email exchanges with living Kyudo instructors, most do not believe that Zen and archery (or shooting) are one in the same. They tell me that while many of the same mental states and terminologies exist in both practices, they are still separate. They claim that Kyudo is practiced as a Zen art in conjunction with traditional Zen practice merely as an illustration to its basic teaching. Zen practice, of course, is centered about meditation, something to which I (and most of them) do not subscribe. However, the recurring writings about mind-body union and the importance on the focus on breathing in meditation relate directly to PRECISION shooting! For me, a daily dry firing ritual, free weight training, and a trip twice weekly to the range for firing practice is the extent of my "shooting practice." I have read much about Zen and found its goals and terminologies consistent with my discoveries about PRECISION shooting. Kyudo instructors agree with my findings in that respect, except that they can't guarantee that these mental states are Zen itself. Why? Because most Kyudo instructors do not know anything about Zen, even the Japanese ones. Basically, Zen is a philosophy in decline, seldom studied, even less practiced, almost forgotten. That means that the term "Zen" is used in circumstances where it has no business - especially in the western world. Unfortunately, the only Americans to write about Zen in the last 30 years were a bunch of dope-using weirdos, and I give them NO credibility. In regards to Enos, while action shooting is nothing like Kyudo, I will still try to find Enos' book to see why Zen is referred. Unless there is exact and elaborate REPETITIVE action, a process cannot be related to Zen art. Concentration or mental focus is NOT Zen. However, the MAGIC that he has discovered is definitely worth the look. They say that "a master of one gun is usually a master of ALL." Thank you VERY MUCH for the note! Write anytime. Best regards, John A. Dreyer http://www.bullseyepistol.com ~~~~~ mike
  6. Hey bountyhunter, Electronics tech by trade currently working on radios, radars... Ham radio op currently not active, its too much like work. Wish i were an engineer, Just old,44. Had a 5 tube circuit on my Commercial FCC License Test, now i think most FCC examiners would also ask Whats a Tube. I did try anodizing several years ago, the Rit Dye route, didn't have any luck on my test pieces. Tell them their Picture Tube is a Vacuum Tube, most people are staring at one now. We ain't old, were Knowledgable. mike (Edited by GunRunner at 7:13 pm on Dec. 14, 2001)
  7. Good One! Had to send that to a friend in TN. mike
  8. I think it was in Nuge's book, God, Guns and Rock N Roll, where i read he got Perry into guns who in turn got Tyler into them. mike
  9. I never considered that you would offer any additional discount other than the above $500 one. Why not just call them Reloading Packages? To me the benefit lies in the fact that what you need is in a package form, no guesswork, questions, filling out longer orders... I would rather order from you than from Dillon and let you get the additional margin, even if you decided the %10 over $500 discount wasn't worth your time and effort. But to draw in new customers the discount sure helps. mike
  10. Its also available in red and blue if not more colors. Anode is also the term for the Plate in a Vacuum Tube. Current flows from the Cathode to the Anode. In plating the Anode or Cathode gets the deposits depending on the polarity of the material in solution. Spot plating can be done using a sponge, cotton ball... soaked with the plating solution, with a metal backing plate (Stainless Steel ?) insulated from the lathe for the eletrical connection. I've seen this done in a lathe to Hard Chrome a shaft that was worn, remachined and the Hard Chrome was used to build up the surface to the original size. Spot Anodizing could possibly be done this way too, with out the Lathe of course. BUT you run the risk of transferring the details of the surface of the pad to the finish. In the Lathe setup it was in constant motion, both rotating and longitudinally. Also theres the problem of matching the color. mike
  11. No particular order, these are the ones who hold up to repeated viewing, but i like a lot of the others listed. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas The Big Chill Heat The Big Lebowski Full Metal Jacket Dune The Matrix Cast Away Pulp Fiction Blade Runner One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Fast Times at Ridgemont High Jaccob's Ladder Cool Hand Luke Saving Private Ryan Dances With Wolves Good Will Hunting Jeremiah Johnson The Outlaw Josey Wales American Beauty ...And Justice For All Barton Fink Eddie and the Cruisers 2001: a Space Odyssey The Green Mile The Fifth Element Alien Evil Dead Evil Dead II Raising Arizona (the first few minutes is the best) Brazil mike
  12. Duhooooo!!! Brain Fart! OK Its Working Now. Thanks for the help. mike (Edited by GunRunner at 10:33 pm on Dec. 4, 2001)
  13. GunRunner

    The Value

    Hi Brian, Have you ever wondered, if the roles of Pool and Shooting (in your life) were reversed that Pool would then be the one that became "hard to capture those feels at the critical moment" and Shooting would become the one that "often felt I could "feel" my way through"? I'm guessing that you shoot Pool strictly for recreation, as I do. So, Do you feel that the extra pressure of Competition is a factor in this? Intuition is a mysterious thing. Its like a 'Just Do It' for the mind. Based in experience and knowledge, able to go from piont A to piont D without consience thought intervening, not revealing the the B and C, but it seems they have to be there . It is highly likely, in your case, a bit of pragmatism is involved in the equasion. BTW, i got the book today, Thanks for the fast service! Actually it came yesterday, to work, but i worked late on a job in another city and didn't stop back by the shop, it was out of the way. mike
  14. (Edited by GunRunner at 10:36 pm on Dec. 4, 2001)
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